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#527 Escape the Comfort Zone
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In this week’s Escape the Comfort Zone episode, the Grit2Greatness Coaches break down how endurance athletes can recognize productive discomfort, avoid dangerous stress, and confidently push past limiting patterns. We kick off with key announcements including TriDot Pool School and the launch of Velocity, then tackle this week’s Ask A Coach on “Good Discomfort vs. Dangerous Discomfort,” followed by a Winter Olympics–themed Fun Segment and our Get Gritty Tip woven throughout. Sponsored by Vespa Power, your metabolic catalyst for cleaner, stronger energy, and our Ask A Coach Segment sponsor TriDot Training.
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode 527
00:00:17
Rich
Welcome to episode 527 of the Grit to Greatness Endurance Podcast. We are your hosts, coaches Rich Soares, April Spilde and Lauren Brown, and we are on a mission to help endurance athletes train smarter, race stronger, and build the grit it takes to achieve greatness.
Why Step Outside Your Comfort Zone?
00:00:35
Rich
Guys, today we are talking about something that every endurance athlete is going to bump into eventually, the comfort zone. It's warm, it's cozy, and if we're honest, it's all as useful for growth as wearing a wetsuit in a kiddie pool.
00:00:50
Rich
This episode is all about really stepping outside or lunging beyond what feels safe. Maybe you're eyeing eyeing your first high rocks and wondering, hey, is that sled?
00:01:01
Rich
Is is that is that the kind of drag that I'm looking for? Or
00:01:05
April
Mm-hmm.
00:01:05
Rich
maybe you've swum laps in the pool and open water looks like, hey, it's waiting for me. I got to go do that. Or maybe you've dreamed of race distance that you just don't know if you could do. It's
April's Personal Challenge
00:01:18
Rich
going to be a stretch. Hey, we're going to help you push back predictable patterns, embrace healthy risk, and try the kinds of challenges that spark real transformation because growth never happens on the couch and breakthroughs rarely come from staying in your lane line. Coach April,
00:01:35
Rich
What is one way you got out of your comfort zone this week?
00:01:38
April
Well, i think that's such a great question, by the way. i was kind of considering One of the things that I did this week was I put my bike back on my snap trainer and, I wanted to test ride the velocity ride that I'm doing on Tuesday.
00:01:58
April
And it was out of my comfort zone because I realized, uh, how hard it is to talk and teach and also stay in the greens.
00:02:03
Lauren Brown
right? understand.
00:02:07
April
Yeah. So this is going to be a real stretch of, uh, of, of talent, if you will, and skill to be able to lead a class and also, leave my own workout.
00:02:22
Rich
Yeah. We, yeah, we think about this in the athlete context a lot, but yeah, we're doing this as coaches, you're launching a new program, teaching, you know, doing things that we aren't used to doing. Yeah. Well, coach Lauren is using, yeah.
00:02:32
April
It's going to be good.
00:02:36
April
Yeah, I got a taste of how amazing coach Lauren is, for sure.
00:02:36
Lauren Brown
I mean,
00:02:41
Lauren Brown
well, I'm gonna say like truth be told when I did my ride this morning and was recording it, I absolutely adjusted my FTP. So I was like, I was like, I am making sure that it is pretty comfortable.
00:02:52
Rich
Okay.
00:02:57
Lauren Brown
Like, I mean, I think I was close to almost like 60% of my FTP.
00:03:02
April
yeah
00:03:03
Lauren Brown
I was like, I'm going to go just go kind kind I want to be able to breathe and talk through these zone five pushes.
00:03:04
April
That's a good note.
00:03:10
Lauren Brown
And that's something I definitely will say. I've learned the hard way of breathing into the mic because I'm trying to match what everyone else is doing instead of coaching.
00:03:23
Rich
That's funny. I was talking to my good friend, Bill Pluck, the former one of my one of the former co-hosts of the show here. you know, he was talking because he he's taught hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of spin classes. And I'm telling him, you know, that's a hard skill. to I mean, it takes some skill and I'm sure it helps your fitness, you know, just to be able to, you know, have a conversation in zone four. And yeah, he was able to.
00:03:45
Rich
to relate to that. You know, I'm trying to stay in my true zone for when I teach these classes because i am getting out of my comfort zone this next weekend.
00:03:53
Lauren Brown
Thank
00:03:56
Rich
And I've got some show and tell for you before we get
Rich's Tandem Time Trial Preparations
00:03:58
Rich
into the pod. So we are doing time trial like tandem time trial so for those i don't think i've mentioned this on the show before i'm uh i'm an athlete that i'm working with mike hello mike mike is a paracyclist he's a blind cyclist and we are doing a stage race next weekend in arizona and it's uh the first one is a time trial and we've got these you know, our our fancy white socks to go with our fancy white arrow shoe covers, guys.
00:04:32
Rich
Like, you know, like you see, like, you know, but you know, the fancy, like, you know cover over the shoe with the, so we've got this thing going and even the the fancy arrow gloves.
00:04:32
April
Oh
00:04:33
Lauren Brown
Ooh, nice.
00:04:40
Lauren Brown
Yep.
00:04:45
April
wow.
00:04:45
Lauren Brown
I love it.
00:04:50
Rich
You all this is gonna make me look really good, but I'm gonna still be terrified on the inside. So total growth moment.
00:04:56
Lauren Brown
But you're gonna look really fast.
00:04:58
Rich
We are gonna be doing some, a lots of, we're gonna be training on Thursday for a race on Friday, just to get comfortable handling the bike and stuff like that.
00:05:04
April
Wow, Rich.
00:05:04
Lauren Brown
Oh,
00:05:07
Rich
Yeah.
00:05:07
Lauren Brown
I can't wait to hear about it.
00:05:07
April
That's amazing. Yeah.
00:05:11
Rich
And then Saturday, we've got a road race. And then Sunday, I don't know, man. Me and a crit with you know somebody else on the bike scares me. But we've there's a crit race on Sunday, potentially, we'll be doing as well.
00:05:25
Rich
so
00:05:25
Lauren Brown
Wow. That's awesome.
00:05:26
Rich
So, Mike, let's do this, buddy. Let's get out of our get me out of my comfort zone. You think you're in your comfort zone. Anyway, April, to you.
00:05:34
April
Yeah, those growth skills, you really are leaning in rich. This is definitely pushing you from growth from comfort to fear to growth.
00:05:43
Rich
Yeah, thank you.
00:05:43
April
Yeah, way to lead the charge.
00:05:44
Rich
yeah
00:05:48
Rich
Living the dream.
00:05:49
April
Just awesome. well let's, let's go into our first
Upcoming Try Dot Pool School Event
00:05:52
April
announcement. And if you are one of those folks that might need a little nudge into your growth zone with swimming, I want you to consider checking out try dot pool school.
00:05:57
Lauren Brown
you
00:06:03
April
We just so happen to have an amazing opportunity for you where we're going to be hosting try dot pool school here at the air force Academy.
00:06:05
Lauren Brown
just
00:06:11
April
And that is February 28th through March 1st coming up very shortly here. So we don't want to miss out. We even have a discount code for you and it is Rocky Mountain rate, all one word where you can get $125 off of your registration.
00:06:29
April
Go to the link in our show notes to register. We would love to see you on deck.
00:06:35
Lauren Brown
And we've been obviously talking a lot about Velocity, which is live as of February 7th.
00:06:45
Rich
Tomorrow we're, we're on tomorrow.
00:06:45
Lauren Brown
Tomorrow. Or today, if you're listening to it.
00:06:47
Rich
See you we am Mountain time.
00:06:48
April
Boom!
00:06:49
Rich
Let's go.
00:06:51
Lauren Brown
You guys have to join Coach Rich what is it, 8 a.m. Mountain Time on Saturday, February 7th, and every Saturday thereafter. So this is going to be group rides every week with the Grit to Greatness coaches that you guys have all learned to love, listening to our voices, maybe watching us on YouTube.
00:07:14
Lauren Brown
So if you think that we are fun on this podcast, wait until you experience this. it's not easy feeling green feeling with coach rich that i am like just always hearing in my mind when i am on the bike riding in the velocity platform which i freaking love uh you can get gritty mountain bike skills with coach april and that get after it arrow ride with me coach lauren We do have a free two week trial. So absolutely check
Grit to Greatness Activities Overview
00:07:48
Lauren Brown
that out. The link will be in the show notes. It's also, if you head over to G2G Endurance on Instagram, you can grab that in our link in our bio. It is just $79 a month.
00:08:02
Lauren Brown
Our Rich to Greatness premium athletes and our ambassadors do get 25% discount. The platform's amazing. You will develop shifting, cadence, smoother pedal strokes, power control, all these amazing skills that will translate to riding outdoors and racing. Right now we're offering three live classes per week. So like we said, Saturday's 8 a.m. Mountain Time with Coach Rich, 90-minute threshold and hold theme with Bike Skills.
00:08:33
Lauren Brown
Tuesdays at 6 a.m. Mountain Time, 60 Minutes with Coach April. Who spiked the punch? Mountain Bike.
00:08:42
Lauren Brown
Focus. And then Wednesdays at 6 a.m. Mountain Time, it will be also 60-minute Aero Envy-type ride for our triathletes.
00:08:55
Lauren Brown
you can join now monthly access to the three live classes. And again, you'll also get replays. It will be $79 a month. Grit to Greatness Ambassadors. Talk to your coach about the discount.
00:09:07
Lauren Brown
And again, grab the link in the bio or at G2G Endurance on Instagram in our link there as well to grab your free trial.
00:09:18
Rich
Like I am so pumped for tomorrow. I can't wait to see who shows up. And I really want to work on my marketing skills because my rides don't sound nearly as fun as April's do.
00:09:30
Rich
Who spiked the punch? Yeah, clever, very clever.
00:09:33
April
Oh, it's, it is, it does serve a meaning to like, we're talking about getting punched in the face on the bike and riding those, those spikes on the trails. So
00:09:44
Rich
yeah but you make it sound so fun.
00:09:44
April
it's gonna be fun. it is fun, Rich, I promise it's gonna be a riot.
00:09:50
Rich
You know, i was I was thinking, okay, run to the hills, hills from hell. yeah I don't know, you know, do any of those sound fun?
00:09:58
April
The hills are alive.
00:10:00
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:10:00
Rich
The hills are alive. Oh yeah, the hills are alive.
00:10:01
April
but
00:10:02
Lauren Brown
heize yeah
00:10:03
Rich
That's pretty good.
00:10:03
April
there
00:10:05
Rich
Bring your, yeah, we'll have a Julie Andrews playlist. he
00:10:08
April
yes
00:10:08
Lauren Brown
and if this is
00:10:09
April
but
00:10:11
Rich
Oh, nuts. Oh, that's so much fun. All right, you guys ready to get into the meat of this? like You know, what we are really here to talk about. This is, you know, the you know the question, you you know, to frame this as an ask a coach question is,
00:10:26
Rich
Is this good discomfort or is this danger? So discomfort or danger is going to be where we're going to play around. So I'm going to start us off talking about The good kind, the physical stress that you want, what is productive, and you know even though you know it it feels a little uncomfortable.
00:10:48
Rich
So things that are normal, right? Muscle fatigue that builds gradually. This is that slow burn feeling you get during intervals or strength work. It's challenging, it's predictable, and it's easy when the and and it eases when the effort ends.
00:11:03
Rich
you know that heavy breathing and that, you know, it you know, you're, you're working hard, so you're breathing hard, you know, it's going to, you know, sometimes, especially when you're doing an assessment, you know, this is kind of where you get to that, you know, you're getting to that lactate threshold, right?
00:11:04
Lauren Brown
to me.
00:11:18
Rich
And you're playing around with this really hurts and I am being forced to slow down, right? Or your, your breathing starts to feel uncontrolled. you know, that's a signal that you are like really at your max workload.
00:11:31
Rich
soreness that helps improve with the warmup, right? So you feel a little tight, feel a little, feel, you know, little tightness, maybe a little niggle, you know, you, you see that doesn't go away.
00:11:34
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:11:41
Rich
That could be a sign you got a, got an issue there, but you know, if it does, it's probably just an early signal. Take whatever that is. If it doesn't persist, you know, you can, you know, you can train, but Be careful. That's a signal that you unit might need some mobility, might need some body work, that sort of thing.
00:11:58
Rich
And then fatigue that feels earned but not alarming. So like, you know, you're in the late stages of a 14-minute zone four.
00:12:07
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:12:07
Rich
Yeah, you know, your heart rate's probably up a little bit, and you're probably feeling a little little pooped at that point. you you You know, if it feels like, wait a minute, I can't turn the pedals today.
00:12:20
Rich
You know, if you have a hard time getting through the warmup, that's probably a good signal you are not recovered enough. And that's where it's time to, you know, maybe take another rest day or just make it a ri nice, easy zone to spin that day.
00:12:34
Rich
So that's the good kind of discomfort, the good kind of uncomfortable that is productive. Coach, well April to you.
00:12:44
April
Yes. I would love to throw in a little question here for, for us around this, the good kind of discomfort. What was in your early, uh, time becoming a triathlete, what was something that required you to, to lean into the good kind of, uh, discomfort?
00:13:03
Lauren Brown
mean, I could answer when i actually first started using the Tridop platform, leaning into the good kind of discomfort, because with when I first started with Tridop, and we've talked about this quite a bit lately because of the Limitless initiative and people understanding the platform, but where I was like,
00:13:23
Lauren Brown
I was definitely pushing. It's funny. I had i had less time overall in like zone four thresholds, but I had some longer thresholds. So while I was getting used to like lower amounts of zone four overall, it was a longer duration at a clip, if that makes sense.
00:13:44
Lauren Brown
And I remember quite a few sessions when I first switched the platform that I was like,
00:13:44
April
who's there.
00:13:49
Lauren Brown
Oh my God. Like i was running, you know, doing like a seven minute zone four run and it was like intervals that were seven minutes and it wasn't, no, I didn't have joint discomfort. I didn't have anything that felt like it was alarming that I was doing something wrong, but I was like,
00:14:07
Lauren Brown
Dang, this seven minute push is really, really trying on my like, it was it was cardio, right? it was And it was mental. It was a mental discomfort that I had to get past.
00:14:20
Lauren Brown
But on the flip side, the one thing that I did notice as I leaned into that was I also had a really big balance of zone two and recovery work that balanced out those longer pushes of a lot of discomfort.
00:14:35
Rich
Yeah. It takes a while to get, get, you know, familiar with, you know, I'm not going to die, right? This just hurts a little, you know, but, but you don't know that line right away.
00:14:41
April
Yes, exactly.
00:14:42
Lauren Brown
Right. You're not. Hmm.
00:14:47
April
No, you don't.
00:14:47
Rich
i mean, you, you, you'll, a lot of athletes, you know, they're out there, you know, they, they say they're giving it at their all and you can see their heart rates at one 30.
00:14:49
April
Hmm.
00:14:54
Rich
You're like, Hmm, bet you've got a little bit more to go. You know, we to your question, April, I think, you know, for me, you know, i there was a lot of that for me, Lauren, when I was starting too, but I would say for me, it was the open water swim.
00:15:10
Rich
Just, you know, i was so like, like it was it was jarring how different it was for me. And I did have a panic attack training for my very first Ironman.
00:15:22
Rich
And I'd already been open water swimming a couple, you know, couple years by this point. But even to this day, early you know like early season cold water, it just you know it does things biologically to you that you just can't control, right?
00:15:30
April
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:15:33
Lauren Brown
Yep.
00:15:35
Rich
It's just your... you know nervous system takes over. and And, you know, this is, you know, we're going to really go into a deep dive on this here in just a few short weeks with an expert on open water, on just swimming safety and open water in particular.
00:15:51
Rich
But so we'll save that for another day. But, you know, and this probably does help set up, I think, Lauren, you're going to talk about here in just just a couple of minutes. which is how much risk do you really take and how do you mitigate those risks around things like, you know, you you're going to you have to take some risks to grow, but what's the healthy, controlled way to do it?
00:16:04
Lauren Brown
Yeah. I love that.
00:16:16
April
Yeah. Love, love these answers. I think for me,
00:16:21
April
it was, Boy, I mean, i know being a beginner triathlete, there's a lot that gets thrown at you. That feels like, Whoa, how do I set up my transition area? How do I get my wetsuit on?
00:16:33
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:16:34
April
Everybody's going down to the the swim area right now. Am I supposed to be going down there? Right. It's like all these things like, especially when you're new and in not well-versed in all the ins and outs. I just remember feeling like I was throwing myself into the deep end right away when I started training for a triathlon and it required a lot of, uh, figuring it out. And that definitely helped.
00:17:00
April
sparked my interest even more. It was kind of this flame, if you will, of, I actually really like the, uh, the discomfort here of not having all of this figured out all the time.
00:17:11
April
So, it was a good catalyst for me to want to learn more and be more curious about it.
00:17:12
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:17:18
April
So thank you for that little spin with my question. I want to talk a little bit more about technical or skill discomfort, and we're going to be moving into the growth zone here. So if you think about this, we have our sphere of comfort.
00:17:34
April
And then right outside of that sphere of comfort, we have fear because it's new, it's scary, it's unknown if we're going to quote unquote fail or succeed. And then just outside of that is that new zone, that growth zone where you pick up new skills, you pick up new confidence, you meet new people, and you expand what now becomes a new comfort zone. So We're going to talk about how do you get out of that zone so you can experience that growth. And one of the things that can really help is embracing how much you're going to suck at first.
00:18:13
April
Going through a period of suckiness is a part of this
Why Embrace Discomfort for Growth?
00:18:16
April
process. And it's one of those things that it's hard to embrace at first, but it's also, if you are able to look at it from the growth mindset, we talk about this a lot, but if you're able to look at it from a place of curiosity and acceptability that you are learning, you'd be surprised how how quickly you can gain a new skill, especially if you're taking it one day at a time. So expect that you're going to have awkward movements when you're learning new skills. We'll go back to the high rocks example earlier.
00:18:54
April
Whether it's learning how to do lunges with a sandbag on your shoulders or burpee lunge jumps or wall balls.
00:18:58
Lauren Brown
on your shoulders.
00:19:00
April
All of those are very technical skills that also require a high rate of aerobic capacity. And it's one of those things where you have to give yourself time to learn.
00:19:13
April
So you can also apply this to trail running, to mountain biking, cornering on a bike, how to do a bunny hop over water bottles. Things like that, that yeah, that life is going to throw at you that you have to give yourself the ability to learn how to do and manage.
00:19:32
April
we talk about discomfort, we also look at breathing and rhythm when we are in open water, it could be difficult, especially if siding is an issue.
00:19:43
April
If you start to swallow water or if you're losing your rhythm early in the, in the swim, that's normal, especially when you are just learning how to do this.
00:19:44
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:19:52
April
And can improve dramatically with practice and short controlled exposure to those stresses. There's also instability on new train. I will, every time I go out on a new trail, i understand that I'm going to be very slow and methodical because the risk of falling and crashing is extremely high. Yeah.
00:20:16
April
So with the understanding of knowing that I don't know the trail yet, but I will, I give myself the ability to learn it before I just bomb down it.
00:20:28
Lauren Brown
yeah
00:20:29
April
Uh, so knowing that you are unsure on how to manage rocks, roots, sand, or gravel, that is something that again, that you have to give yourself the ability to learn and go slow and suck at it before you get the the gain of the repetition and that what that teaches your body on how to find better balance proprio perception and terrain how to scan the terrain and use it to your benefit And then finally, ooof heart rate, heart rate can really spike during technical work that requires a lot of your focus and attention. So a brief rise in heart rate on trails, climb or skill drills can signal that concentration and effort rather than danger. Your body is simply adapting to more complex demands. So these are all ways of acknowledging that it is going to be uncomfortable when you are developing a new technical skill and giving yourself the ability to learn and be okay with not being great at first.
00:21:34
Lauren Brown
I love those tips and it's like that fine balance right between, okay this kind of sucks and I'm a little bit uncomfortable, but I still feel safe while I am embracing this journey of getting stronger and adapting. on the
Recognizing Risk in Sports
00:21:52
Lauren Brown
When you cross the line, right, where you become, where warning signs of too much risk, right, where all of a sudden,
00:22:00
Lauren Brown
I don't know, am going to hurt myself now? am i Am I pushing too hard? Right? So this is a the stop and listen zone when the discomfort crosses that line from productive to potentially harmful.
00:22:16
Lauren Brown
And, you know, Coach April started to allude to some of these when we're, again, flirting with growth and then potential risk.
00:22:26
Lauren Brown
If something to think about, if you're training or if this is happening during a race right where you can't maintain control of movement i instantly think of of biking here but of course this is applicable across different disciplines but like if you consistently are losing balance having trouble steering you can't control motion and this could be taking place if you're on the trails, gravel descend, if you're, again, we'll go back to that, that high rocks movement patterns, the loss of control is a sign that your technical skill isn't yet ready for the demands of the environment.
00:23:07
Lauren Brown
So when I first started really riding my triathlon bike, so I started racing with a road bike and I was very comfortable just riding on my you know my bars, my like drop bars.
00:23:21
Lauren Brown
When I switched and was practicing riding on my aero bars, the second the wind came, I was like, oh, hell no. Right. I was so nervous. felt like was going to blow over.
00:23:34
Lauren Brown
And I remember distinctly there was one day I was riding. I'm in New Jersey. I was in Asbury Park by the water. And it was, i mean, windy where I'm small. So I get blown a little bit more potentially. But I couldn't I couldn't stay straight off of the path of traffic to save my life because I couldn't handle my bike.
00:23:54
Lauren Brown
that is a great example of a time when the the risk does not outweigh the benefit. I could not handle my bike in the wind. I could not figure out leaning into the wind. I was tensing up. I was like choking my handlebars because I was scared.
00:24:10
Lauren Brown
That is where you need to realize and have that self-awareness that this is potentially harmful and I could hurt myself and I actually need to take a step back and make sure that I do this after maybe a lighter wind and I practice and I get my handling skills. So something to keep in mind.
00:24:30
Lauren Brown
Also, if you are reacting instead of anticipating. So again, whether it's terrain, if it's that you're in in the water, if you're doing an open water swim, if movement patterns start to feel like they're happening to you rather than with you, so the wind is blowing, you're not moving with your bike, that is, again, a signal that your foundational skill isn't solid enough to safely add speed or effort. So you want to make sure that you are
00:25:03
Lauren Brown
making sure that you are really learning to move with what's going on around you. right So you want to make sure that you are not just reacting, you are understanding what's happening and you can mentally make that shift.
00:25:18
Lauren Brown
The other thing and to keep in mind is that your form breaks down completely under stress. So this happens, I mean, this is an open water thing for me, I will say. This is something that if...
00:25:30
Lauren Brown
Yeah. If I am stressed out, so I really, I I've mentioned this before. It's like when you start to think about things because you're panicked, everything goes out the window and your form falls to total crap. Right? So if your technique falls apart, the moment intensity rises. So if you're doing an ocean swim, which I'm on the coast, I do those often and the water's getting rough and all of a sudden you're like freaking out. You're an every form goes to the the wayside or Another one, if you're stressed out running running downhill and all of a sudden you're just like pounding the pavement, you're not relaxed. if you're Again, if you're doing if you're doing strength training of any form, if whether it's high rocks or if you do any other sort of endurance event that might be non-swim, bike, run specific,
00:26:21
Lauren Brown
If your reps start to feel sloppy, again, this is a really, really good sign that your foundational skill isn't solid enough, right? So you need to make sure that it's like with strength training, right?
00:26:36
Lauren Brown
April, you could definitely relate to this, right? And Coach Rich, I know you can. It's like, you don't just all of a sudden decide, wonder what I could one rep max, right?
00:26:48
Lauren Brown
going to just go see how heavy can I lift when when you don't even know how to sit and stand with proper mechanics, right?
00:26:50
April
Oh, Lord.
00:26:54
Lauren Brown
And then you load, you know, 100 plus pounds on your back. You actually feel that weight and you're like, and then you panic and you try to squat, right?
00:27:02
April
Oh, crap.
00:27:04
Lauren Brown
So it's like you will definitely panic in that instant. Your form is going to break down real quick because you are not neuromuscularly ready to handle the load and maintain the proper movement pattern.
00:27:17
Lauren Brown
So it you know it makes sense when we say it, but it doesn't sometimes you need to take a pause and think, what am I doing? Am I actually hurting myself or am i progressing properly to make sure that I am growing and not hurting myself?
00:27:36
Rich
You know, it's a very perive pervasive idea that, you know, more is better, right?
00:27:41
Lauren Brown
Mm-hmm.
00:27:41
Rich
And, you know, we've we've learned through experience, you know, that no, it's not. More more you know more can be really bad. You've really got to take your time and be patient.
00:27:52
Rich
Lauren, I swear I thought you were talking about my first Xterra when you were talking about you can't mean control or movement. So thank you. That felt all about me.
00:28:02
April
Oh my God. well
00:28:04
Rich
don't know if you saw me sweating over here. I was like, they oh, shit.
00:28:07
Lauren Brown
I saw some movement going on. I was like, I think I'm shrugging a chord.
00:28:09
Rich
ahort I was feeling uncomfortable just sitting here talking to you.
00:28:15
Rich
Well, I'll tell you, you know, honestly, these, you know, this is the, these are the litmus tests, right? This You know, if you if if you don't have a sounding board, you don't have a community, you don't have other good information, or you're not you're not looking or researching it on your own, you know you know, you can get yourself into trouble. So, you know, you can't, especially when it comes to safety things. So if you can't, like, you're not sure you can be safe, safe you can't execute basic basic safety maneuvers. So think you can't site in open water.
00:28:48
Rich
You know, maybe, you know, you're questioning whether, you know, my goggles fog up, should I go out there? your goggles fog up, and you don't know how to clear your goggles, maybe not, you know, you can't unclip in time.
00:28:58
April
Yes.
00:29:00
Rich
You're not familiar unclipping. Don't, don't, you know, you get that brand new bike, put flat pedals on there for starters, you know, work your way into it to use this kind of easier way into it model.
00:29:10
Rich
don't know how to break safely going downhill. Coach, Coach April, we did the we did the climbing in the camp and the bike camp. We took a group up into the hills. And that was very much to teach, you know, you know, to, you know, we did some practice in a parking lot first.
00:29:23
April
yes
00:29:51
Rich
Read your environment, read yourself, make safe, make sure you're doing stuff when you feel comfortable. If you don't feel comfortable, hey, slow down for yellow lights.
00:30:02
Rich
You can't recover your rhythm after a disruption.
00:30:03
Lauren Brown
Mm-hmm.
00:30:05
Rich
i i was thinking of the trail half marathon I did a few months ago and i just, I ate shit. i you know I hit a root, my foot hit a root, I went right down.
00:30:17
Rich
and i But I've run this course so many times, i've run this race so many times, i just jumped up and just kept going. Yeah, my heart rate spiked and I'm sure my you know body was just flooded with adrenaline.
00:30:31
Rich
But if you can't, like if that's something happens to you and like you're like, you're like really shook up. Yeah, you know, maybe, you know, ease into trail running a little bit, you know, and fatigue that is so fast that your safety declines.
00:30:38
Lauren Brown
the
00:30:39
April
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:30:45
Rich
And I really think, Lauren, you know, you the example of open water, like we if you go out into open water, Take it easy. First of all, make sure you get a swim safe buoy.
00:30:57
Rich
But when you start out, like get acclimated first, take time and start off slow. You've got your first 70.3. Let's say your first 70.3 open water swim this year, early season.
00:31:09
Rich
First open water you've done to the season. You're going to go out there and, you know, try to smack out your fastest 100? No. you're going go as easy as a home one as you can, to, you know, just make sure that you're feeling, uh, feeling safe ands and stable. Don't spike that heart rate. then apply to running too, right? Coming out of the gate in a 5k too strong or too fast, starting your FTP at a too high of a wattage, right? All of those things.
00:31:36
Rich
April.
00:31:37
April
Yes. I, I had a flashback to my first 70.3, which was in Galveston. And, I was so excited. It's a, it's a jump from a pier, right? Well, I decided to do a cannonball off the pier.
00:31:50
April
And then I got in the water and immediately got swam over top of which I'd never had happened before.
00:31:51
Lauren Brown
okay
00:31:56
April
but but And it was it was it was a good test for me to be able to calm myself down in the water, but I can imagine, and I saw others, unfortunately, get pulled from the water.
00:31:58
Rich
Oh.
00:32:10
April
And it is one of those things that... If you're not exposed to it and you don't know your, what your boundaries are, it can be very shocking in the moment. And it is, it is one of those things where safety is paramount. we want to make
Listening to Experienced Voices
00:32:25
April
sure that everybody not only enters safely, but exits as well.
00:32:31
April
So we're going to continue on with our, our warning signs here, but, uh, this one rings true for me here. I've, I have in the past,
00:32:41
April
Thought I needed a little luck, not skill to stay safe. So when you catch yourself thinking, man, I got lucky I didn't fall or panic, that is a sign that the environment is exceeding your current abilities.
00:33:24
April
If you have experienced athletes, coaches, lifeguards, leaders in your circle, and they are telling you that it is unsafe for your current level, i do recommend you give a listen.
00:33:40
April
but This is something, yeah, it's a sage advice.
00:33:41
Rich
Excellent advice. Yes.
00:33:44
April
It's definitely coming from a place of love and it it it can absolutely save you from making some major detrimental mistakes. so If a coach lifeguard or more experienced training partner says conditions are beyond your ability today, that external feedback is a strong indicator that the risk isn't worth taking.
00:34:04
April
And that doesn't mean that you aren't going to gain the skill over time. It just means that currently today, this is probably outside your range and that's okay.
00:34:12
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:34:14
April
We'll get there. So those are great.
00:34:18
Rich
Awesome guys.
00:34:18
Lauren Brown
Mm-hmm.
00:34:18
Rich
with Nice tips.
00:34:20
April
Yeah.
00:34:21
Rich
Let's be safe out there, yeah but let's grow.
00:34:23
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:34:24
April
Let's be safe and smart.
00:34:25
Rich
Yeah.
00:34:26
April
Yeah. And, and worked to gain those skills in, that progressive manner, like Lauren talked about with not just getting under a squat bar, loading two 25 on there and hoping and that luck is on your side.
00:34:34
Lauren Brown
There's
00:34:39
Lauren Brown
no model left.
00:34:40
April
I guarantee it is not.
00:34:40
Lauren Brown
Ready?
00:34:42
April
Gravity will win.
00:34:42
Lauren Brown
so want lot
00:34:44
April
Yeah, gravity will win. So you can definitely stretch outside your comfort zone, but do it in a safe and healthy, effective, progressive manner. And that brings us to the unsafe by a fun segment I am bringing you both to. Are you ready for this?
00:35:02
Rich
Ready as always.
00:35:05
April
Yes. I'm going to throw you both into the heart of the winter Olympics since we are just now kicking off what is to be an incredible event and experience.
00:35:17
April
So with the winter Olympics and full swing, I thought I'd test, uh, something important, not just fitness grit, but confidence.
00:35:27
April
This is confidence on ice. Get at the winter Olympics on ice. Yeah.
00:35:31
Rich
oh nice
00:35:31
April
Yeah. The segment where we drop triathletes into the wimp winter Olympics with zero prep, unlimited competence. Like we talked about, this is not a good combination and absolutely no regard for physics.
00:35:46
April
So of course there's no right answers.
00:35:47
Lauren Brown
Oh my gosh.
00:35:49
April
We're not giving coaching caveats. We're just being really honest. Let's do it. All right. Here's the first question. If you had to compete in one event at the winter Olympics tomorrow with zero prep, which event are you choosing and why?
00:36:06
Lauren Brown
gosh
00:36:08
Rich
curling.
00:36:09
April
Curling, great choice.
00:36:12
Rich
i mean, I'm just thinking of the one sport that like, doesn't like to, well, to me, I'm like, it will survive.
00:36:16
April
You would survive?
00:36:19
Rich
Yes. Like, like Bob's led downhill. What, you know, I mean, I, yeah, no way.
00:36:22
April
Figure skating? That's Deathblades right there.
00:36:25
Rich
Right. Yeah. Yeah. I couldn't, I couldn't do any of that. I couldn't do this. It's really because that's the only thing I could possibly do, which has also tortured me because, and I'm sorry for curling fans, but I'm like, not an Olympic sport.
00:36:43
April
Oh, that is, oh, that is a polarizing opinion right there. My Minnesota friends would be upset.
00:36:47
Lauren Brown
Oh, shots fired.
00:36:48
Rich
I know.
00:36:49
Lauren Brown
Oh my God.
00:36:50
April
The shots are fired. Woo.
00:36:53
Lauren Brown
Yeah, I mean, i would...
00:36:54
April
Woo. He's getting spicy.
00:36:55
Rich
i'm going down.
00:36:55
April
It's heating up.
00:36:56
Rich
I'm going down. Huh? Okay. oh I mean, watch the mail come in now, folks. Watch the comments.
00:37:01
Lauren Brown
I know. Unfollows, no, I'm just kidding.
00:37:05
April
but
00:37:05
Lauren Brown
All of a sudden.
00:37:07
Lauren Brown
This is tough because I would probably just be awful at every single one or break a bone. And it's funny, my thought was, Maybe I would do figure skating. I would be awful at figure skating.
00:37:18
Lauren Brown
The last time I went ice skating was a couple of years ago with my sister and fell so many times. I wanted to use, they have little things for kids to use where you could just hold something in front of you.
00:37:29
Lauren Brown
So i would do figure skating and I'd get disqualified, but I would come out with one of those things and do like, as if it was a duet, me and my little
00:37:29
April
Oh, a chair. yeah
00:37:40
April
Your chair.
00:37:40
Lauren Brown
figure skating chair and support buddy because I would fail no matter what at any of these things.
00:37:42
April
he
00:37:45
Lauren Brown
So I'll i'll see what happens with me and my my fake partner on figure skating. but
00:37:50
April
Well, I love the idea of seeing you in like a sequin suit with flames and bright pink. And I think that would be amazing.
00:37:57
Lauren Brown
Yeah. Yeah. So if I'm going to suck, I might as well look good sucking at a sport.
00:38:03
April
yeah
00:38:16
Rich
Oh yeah.
00:38:22
April
tomato.
00:38:24
April
that, that would be the the coolest if I could land that.
00:38:24
Lauren Brown
it
00:38:29
Rich
Wouldn't it?
00:38:30
April
Yes. All right, rich.
00:38:31
Rich
Oh.
00:38:32
April
Now you cannot say the same answer for this next one. I'm just throwing it out there. Right. Which winter Olympic sport looks deceptively easy on TV, but would absolutely humble you in real life.
00:38:37
Rich
Sure.
00:38:45
Rich
Oh,
00:38:46
Rich
well, definitely like Nordic skiing.
00:38:51
April
Okay.
00:38:51
Rich
Right.
00:38:52
April
Yep.
00:38:52
Rich
Yeah. I mean like that, that the skill, I mean like those guys are just, there's just guys and girls are so graceful. I'm going to, you know, you know, skate skiing, it is fricking hard.
00:39:04
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:39:05
Rich
That one or, can I say more than one? Like speed skating.
00:39:08
April
Yeah.
00:39:09
Rich
i was thinking of speed skating.
00:39:10
April
Oh yeah. That looks amazing.
00:39:11
Rich
Like, and, you know, Apollo Ono, you know, just in crashing out. Or back to your example, Sean White, you know, crashing in the half pipe. That just freaking terrifies me. Okay, I guess it all terrifies me is the point.
00:39:26
Rich
But side note, Morgan, my daughter, the zookeeper, has sign. Her helmet is signed by Sean White.
00:39:34
April
Get out.
00:39:36
Lauren Brown
Wow.
00:39:36
Rich
They both actually have helmets that are signed by Sean White because we saw him at the Dew Tour and Breckenridge and we sat there at the bottom of the run with Sharpies and helmets in hand and he would just come by and sign stuff.
00:39:49
April
oh
00:39:51
Lauren Brown
Wow.
00:39:52
April
Oh, that's so freaking cool.
00:39:52
Rich
about that?
00:39:53
Lauren Brown
That's pretty awesome.
00:39:54
Rich
He was so cool. He has like these like, you know, snowboard pants just look like jeans, but they're not. They're like, he's like, he's like so stylish, that guy.
00:40:01
April
yeah
00:40:03
April
Yeah, he is. He is.
00:40:05
Rich
Anyway.
00:40:05
April
he's He's a classic, wonderful memory that I have of watching the Olympics growing up.
00:40:11
Rich
Oh.
00:40:12
Lauren Brown
Yeah. I think would say maybe bobsledding. I feel like that looks like, I'd be like, give give me a snow tube or something.
00:40:17
April
Yeah.
00:40:18
Rich
Yes. What?
00:40:22
Lauren Brown
I don't know. In my mind, it seems like it's obviously challenging sport because otherwise more people would like, I'm going to just professional bobsledder. So for me, I'm going to go bobsledding that I think it would be like, and plus I feel like if I could do it, it would be tons of fun.
00:40:38
Lauren Brown
It's like, yeah Yeah.
00:40:40
Rich
Did you see, do you watch SNL?
00:40:41
April
Yeah.
00:40:42
April
Yes.
00:40:43
Lauren Brown
I haven't watched it recently.
00:40:44
Rich
Do you see the skit the skit last week with the person who they're trying to like force into the, I guess it may, don't know if it was the bobsled or it was the, you know, the, whatever they call it, the skeleton. And like, no, no, no. And the coach just threw her down the chute.
00:41:01
Lauren Brown
I saw it.
00:41:02
Rich
I don't want to go.
00:41:02
April
oh
00:41:03
Lauren Brown
There was a post once with an athlete who was training and she was doing something crazy with like the treadmill, like off the side of it, but like like almost like,
00:41:14
Lauren Brown
in like a high plank, kicking one leg on the the treadmill and was like people staring at me, not knowing what I'm training for and thinking that like, and then, really and then flashing to her being, and I don't remember who it was, but it was for the Olympics.
00:41:27
Lauren Brown
So this was a probably probably about four years ago. And it was like, when you see her doing the training and then you see her actually performing in her sport, you're like, oh my God, that looks exactly that looks exactly like it, but nobody's thinking of skeleton.
00:41:42
Lauren Brown
Nobody's like, That might be what she's doing, but I mean, I clearly she's an athlete, amazing shape. I'm looking at it. Like kind of want to do that workout.
00:41:51
Lauren Brown
but
00:41:52
April
Yeah. Ooh. All right. Which winter Olympic athlete do you think would secretly crush a triathlon and which discipline would be their downfall?
00:42:03
Lauren Brown
I mean, I don't know enough of the winter triathletes. So I mean, winter triathletes. I'm going to go with Sean White just because I would say he's got enough.
00:42:16
April
You got style points.
00:42:16
Lauren Brown
I mean, yeah, I'm like, I just think that he would be like all out and it wouldn't matter what he was doing on the bike. Like he could ride probably any bike course and just crush it. So I'll go with him.
00:42:26
April
Yeah. Okay.
00:42:29
Rich
I'm going to go with one who did it, Apollo Ono. did iron He did he he did the Iron Man World Championship too.
00:42:33
April
Oh,
00:42:35
Lauren Brown
Oh, wow. Fun fact for you guys.
00:42:37
April
Oh, I had no idea.
00:42:39
Rich
How about that?
00:42:39
April
That's awesome.
00:42:40
Rich
Yeah, it was a few quite a few years ago, but it was one of those it was one of those you know Iron Man you know NBC feature stories and stuff, I think, at the time.
00:42:40
Lauren Brown
Wow. like the best answer
00:42:51
April
All right. Last question for our fun segment. If triathlon were added to the winter Olympics, what ridiculous modification would make it the most entertaining to watch?
Imagining a Winter Triathlon
00:43:04
Lauren Brown
I'm trying, I mean, I'm going back to ice skating and thinking that like the run would have to be like ice skating across somewhere.
00:43:13
April
I would like that.
00:43:14
Lauren Brown
Yeah. I mean, people would be going fast.
00:43:16
April
Yeah. Yeah.
00:43:17
Lauren Brown
and got if you had like It would have to be a sprint.
00:43:19
Lauren Brown
It has to be a sprint triathlon where you're just doing like a 5k all out on the ice.
00:43:20
April
Yes.
00:43:26
April
That would be so cool.
00:43:27
Lauren Brown
seeing how fast you could do a 5k ice skating.
00:43:31
Rich
I think that's perfect. I like, I love, I think you do everything on the ice, including, so you do the run, just like you said on the ice, right? And and I really think if you would make it ridiculous, right?
00:43:45
Rich
No spikes, you just get plain old running shoes. Let's see how you do out there folks.
00:43:48
April
Oh, that's murder.
00:43:50
Rich
You know, yeah fat Fat bikes on ice, fine.
00:43:52
April
but
00:43:55
Rich
that's all That sounds all groovy, but you got to pump your tires up to at least, you know, 30 PSI, which there's no way you're going to be able to go anywhere. And that set the swim part of it.
00:44:05
Rich
What do you do for the swim part of it?
00:44:06
Lauren Brown
I mean, I'm just picturing broken up ice blocks, like and people swimming through it.
00:44:09
April
Yeah.
00:44:10
Rich
Yeah.
00:44:10
April
Goodness.
00:44:12
Lauren Brown
i mean, you'd have to be crazy gear unless it has something to do with snorkeling and going.
00:44:12
April
Frozen open water swim.
00:44:12
Rich
I like that. Oh, no, I know. a rope. There's a rope going across the the the lake, and you've got to pull yourself on the ice.
00:44:25
April
Oh, I think we just created a new sport.
00:44:28
Rich
Right? i mean,
00:44:30
Lauren Brown
Yeah. Well, that's that's because, and hey, the pulling is like, you're using your lats, you're using your upper body.
00:44:31
April
Yeah.
00:44:32
Rich
let's do that.
00:44:36
Lauren Brown
So instead of spilling through the water, you're not catching and pulling in the water.
00:44:37
April
yeah
00:44:40
Lauren Brown
You're just catching the rope and pulling it.
00:44:43
Rich
You're sitting on a block of ice, pulling yourself across the ice.
00:44:45
April
Pulling yourself across.
00:44:49
April
Yeah.
00:44:50
Lauren Brown
April, what did you just do?
00:44:50
April
So you, you pull yourself.
00:44:52
Lauren Brown
that right?
00:44:52
April
Yeah. Yeah. You pull yourself.
00:44:53
Lauren Brown
Okay.
00:44:54
April
You get to your transition one, you, uh, grab your fat tire bike, ride it back.
00:44:57
Lauren Brown
right
00:45:00
April
And then you take off the, drop the bike, put the skates, the ski, uh, skates on and you skate back.
00:45:01
Lauren Brown
Ice skates are, yeah.
00:45:06
April
yeah
00:45:06
Lauren Brown
Yeah, no skates
00:45:07
Rich
Liz Collar, Liz Collar, if you're listening, This is Mageddon like on steroids.
00:45:14
April
Extreme.
00:45:15
April
Yes.
00:45:17
Rich
This is extreme. All Mageddon. Let's connect. We've, we you know, you're the race director.
00:45:21
Lauren Brown
are.
00:45:22
Rich
We've got the idea.
00:45:22
Lauren Brown
Can you imagine?
00:45:23
Rich
this is, we' we're going to blow, blow it apart. Here we go.
00:45:27
April
yeah wow okay well that settles it endurance fitness gives you confidence but ice speed and gravity don't care how tough you are but we will be bringing in you this ice competition straight to hopefully maybe one day to the olympics
00:45:33
Lauren Brown
No.
00:45:46
April
cool would that be? thank you so much for participating and having fun with me in our winter Olympic edition of our fun segment. We want to know where you land. Are you team curling?
00:45:58
April
Or are you, uh, tossing that aside, which winter Olympic event would you choose? And which one would you send straight to the sidelines? Tag us comment on our socials or drop us a message and include confidence on ice. So we know that you're playing along.
00:46:16
Rich
That was one of the funnest fun segments we've ever done. That was just, that was just nutty.
00:46:20
April
Oh,
00:46:23
Rich
Awesome.
00:46:24
Rich
I'm sure everybody's with us still because that was just so engaging. That was so much syncing fun.
00:46:29
April
They might, they, yeah.
00:46:29
Rich
Before we like, before we even, so what?
00:46:33
April
i was going to say, uh, we might have some takers on this winter triathlon.
00:46:38
Lauren Brown
Mm-hmm.
00:46:38
April
We might.
00:46:39
Rich
Oh, this is happening. Well, I mean, Liz, we got to talk.
00:46:44
April
Yeah.
00:46:44
Rich
Before we start to wrap things up here, guys, this was a lot of fun. i want to just revisit something. We didn't talk about this during announcements, but I just want to acknowledge and thank all of our new Team Limitless through Tridot, the mentor program. We're you know bringing in nearly female athletes into the sport, giving them a year of free training and access to mentors us. We had a great time welcoming them. And if they're listening, so if you joined us and now you're a part of our team, you're listening to the podcast, we just want you to hear. We are so glad you're with us.
00:47:23
Rich
So, Anything else you guys anything you guys want to say about this week and how that went?
00:47:29
Lauren Brown
I mean, I'm just extremely excited that we have the opportunity to welcome more people into the sport, bring more people into the grit to greatness community, and just make an impact because that's something that I know we're all grateful that we get to do.
00:47:44
Lauren Brown
And it is we've talked about this before, the the butterfly effect, the ripple effect that we get to create.
00:47:50
April
Mm-hmm.
00:47:51
Lauren Brown
And i every time I say wholeheartedly, April, I think of i think of you, but I wholeheartedly believe that. what we're doing between limitless and even velocity. And as a team is creating this butterfly ripple effect into the universe. So I'm just really, really grateful that we we get to do it.
00:48:14
April
I second everything Lauren just said, captured beautifully. we have an awesome privilege to work with these ladies and i can't wait to see what comes of it.
00:48:23
Lauren Brown
Mm-hmm.
00:48:24
Rich
Awesome. Thank you, Limitless team. And thank you, Vespa. We want to give a shout out to Vespa Power Endurance. It helps you tap into so clean, steady energy you can be training, strong, focused, and in the zone longer. Vespa is not fuel, but a metabolic catalyst that shifts your body to use more fat and less sugar as your fuel source. It's going to save you some gels and it is going to help you really perform. it Comes in a number of products, less sugar,
00:48:55
Rich
higher performance, faster recovery, go to, we've got the link here in the show notes here. It will take you to their website and the code 303ENDURANCE20 will get you 20% off of your very first order. After that, there's a link in here also for, and a code for 15% off of orders thereafter. is that code.
00:49:22
Rich
Also, don't forget to sign up for TriDot Pool School in Colorado Springs and take advantage of that discount. And thanks for spending time with us today on the Grit to Greatness Endurance Podcast.
00:49:34
Rich
If you've enjoyed this episode, please follow us on Instagram at G2G Endurance and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or on YouTube.
00:49:41
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:49:44
Rich
It helps us reach more athletes just like you. Stay gritty, train smart, and keep chasing greatness. We will catch you next week.